The Society

Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear. – Thomas Jefferson

[The Society]
As the Nineteenth Century came to a close and the Spiritualism movement had come under attack from any number of investigative agencies (such as the Seybert Commission) a group met for the first time, a group dedicated to looking beyond the hoaxes and the frauds being perpetuated upon an overly credulous public, a group dedicated to looking for those rare events that were authentic.

Stage magician Edward Skokie gathered a small group of like-minded individuals for the purpose of investigating the claims of mediums and mentalists. The goal of the group was to uncover those real phenomenons so that they could better understand the universe and its “unseen workings”. To this end, in 1891, [The Society] was formed with the following stated goals.

To become a central point in the struggle for all mankind to join together and share knowledge in a universal brotherhood.

To promote the study of all of the world’s religions and philosophies so as to be able to better understand the shared background of all of them.

To investigate the unseen workings in every manifestation possible with a special focus on expanding and understanding the hidden powers of man.

With these stated goals, [The Society] began its investigation and became the talk of high society. Under the umbrella of “universal brotherhood” [The Society] kept an open membership policy, allowing any who wished to join to do so with a minimum of difficulty. As membership swelled, [The Society] began to open up Chapter Houses in cities across the United States and by the dawning of the Twentieth Century; [The Society] had gone international.

Increased membership in [The Society] caused a surge in the study of age old religions which, while new to the West, were fairly well established. Of course, there were members who had a growing interest in the truly unusual and bizarre. Indeed [The Society] was showing great success in both of the first founding goals, but the third had shown little progress. Indeed, it was when there finally was progress that [The Society] changed forever and splintered under the very weight of what had been discovered. 1904 was an important year for [The Society].

There are only whispered rumors of what happened, what dark event lead to the deaths of founder Edward Skokie and Robert Edgewater (of the Boston Chapter House)? In the sixteen years since that mysterious night, the facts have become no more clear than they were when it happened. Referred to only as “the Event”, the topic is mostly taboo within [The Society].

Since then, the organization has regained its footing and has continued with its stated goals. But those who have been with [The Society] for any real length of time have commented on the change under Magister Ordo Lavinia Coolidge.

What happened that dark night in 1904?
Who are the Adeptus Exemptus?
All will be revealed.